By Chimaobi Afiauwa for MUK TV, Umuahia
Sir Mascot Uzor Kalu, the 2027 governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, has criticised Governor Alex Otti’s continued refusal to operate from Umuahia, accusing the governor of crippling the capital city’s economy by running government from his private residence in Isialangwa.
Speaking on Don FM 103.7 MHz, Umuahia, during the political affairs programme ‘The Agenda,’ Kalu said Umuahia has lost its vibrancy because the seat of power has effectively been moved away from the city.
“I’ve been in Umuahia recently. If you go out at night, it’s only around the Latino section that you see economic activity. In most other places, by 7 p.m., people have already gone to bed. There’s nothing going on.
“Someone told me they were coming from Aba to Umuahia, and as of 5 p.m., they couldn’t find transportation. This wasn’t the case when I was Chief of Staff,” he lamented.
Kalu said the governor’s decision to abandon both the new Government House built by former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and the old one has denied Umuahia the commercial boost that comes with hosting government activities.
According to him, receiving official visitors at the governor’s country home in Nvosi, Isialangwa, has redirected economic opportunities away from Abia’s capital to neighbouring Owerri, the capital of Imo state.
“This is because the governor is not present in the city. When the governor is here, he will have different visitors who want to see him.
“They would come here and maybe stay in hotels for one week, trying to see the governor, present their budgets, proposals, and business ideas. Local businesses would benefit from their presence. The drink sellers and food vendors will gain from that,” he said.
The former Abia Chief of Staff added that instead of Umuahia benefiting, Owerri now enjoys the spillover effects of visits meant for Abia.
“For people coming to visit the governor, it’s easier for them to return to Owerri than to come to Umuahia. So they come, see him, and go back to Owerri. Owerri gets the benefits of those visitors; Umuahia does not,” Kalu stated.
He stressed that Umuahia was deliberately chosen as Abia’s capital by the founding fathers of the state for strategic and economic reasons and vowed that if elected governor in 2027, he would fully restore the seat of government to the city.
